THE RAGMAN Growing up in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania my first 15 years gave me many experiences suburbia kids would never have. Yes, I remember the Milkman delivering "Supplies" glass bottles of milk. The bread delivered by the "Friehoffier" truck, the iceman with the sign "ice never fails" on the side of his truck. (Mom would kid him, if ice never fails, why do I always have to buy more ice for our icebox?) The one that left the greatest impression on me (I was 9 or 10 years old at that time) was the "ragman". He usually wore a black derby, old brown torn clothes, unshaved and with a huge brown burlap bag slung over his shoulder. Stooped over from the weight he would cry "any old rags today? Any old rags today?" One of the rules in the families on the block was that the children must play in our block and not wander off. We lived on a one-block street that budded against the Belmont Elementary School; therefore we were able to play in the street. The girls would be playing Jump Rope, the boys playing stickball or marbles. Then the CRY "The ragman is coming, the ragman is coming". Hysteria would hit, the girls would start screaming and the boys would start running in circles trying to out scream the girls and all would run to their respective homes. I would run into my house and bound up the stairs to the 3rd floor to look out the window. With my heart racing and my legs shaking I would watch the feared ragman. As you see, the mothers on the block, in order to keep us playing close to home, told us that the ragman also collected kids in his burlap sack. Frank Hummel 13 Snapdragon Lane Marlton, NJ 08053-4422 BumbleBee@Hummel.org Have a Great Day Profanity is an attempt by the feeble minded to express themselves forcefully.